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CHAIR BRAGB Paten-ted Dec. 1, 1896.

(No Mdel.)

Wifzesses:

nu: wams Firms oo.. worn-nwo.. wAsm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES COOPER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 572,409, dated December1, 1896.

Application filed May 16 1896. Serial No- 591,778. (No model.)

To au whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JAMES COOPER, of New York city, New York, haveinvented an Improved'Ohair-Brace, of which the following is aspeciiication.

This invention relates to a brace more particularly designed to beattached to chairs already in use, though it may also be attached to newchairs. By means of this brace the chairlegs are drawn tightly againstthe rounds and are iirmly secured to the chairbottom, so that anintimate union of all the parts is effected vand great rigidity of thestructure obtained.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis y a perspective view of a chairprovided with my improved brace, and Fig. 2 is a detail of. the staplebefore being twisted.

My improved brace consists, essentially, of four parts, a staple a, across-bar b, and a pair of stay-rods c c. The staple a when attached tothe chair has the form shown in Fig. 2. Its shanks ce' are bent inward,so as to cross each other and forni an elongated eye a2, which is closedat both ends. At its free end each shank terminates in a screweye a3. l

The cross-bar b is preferably made of extra heavy wire, and also has ascrew-eye b at each of its ends. The stay-rods c are bent centrally toform an obtuse angle and are at their apex provided preferably with asmall bulge c'. At their free ends each of the rods c terminates in thescrew-eye c2.

In use the staple ct is first screwed to the lower side of the chairseat or frame A, so that it depends centrally therefrom. The crossbar bis then slipped through the upper end of the loop and is also screwed tothe seat A. Next the stay-rods care slipped through the lower end oftheloop, so as to become seated at their bulge c', and the ends of each rodare screwed to diagonally-opposite chair-legs A. The parts being thusall connected the looped or depending portion of the staple is twistedupon itself, Fig. l, by means of a small hand -lever or other tool. Bythis twisting operation the length of the eye a2 is reduced and the rodsc are drawn up at the center, so that they become taut and draw the legsA against the rounds A2 and also against the seat A. Duringthe twistingoperation the cross-bar b serves as a stop that prevents the bentstaple-shanks from straightening out.

My improved brace can be attached to a chair in a very few minutes, andwhen so attached will have converted an old and looselyjointed chairinto one of great strength and rigidity, which will withstand even agreater amount of rough handling than a chair which is entirely new.

1 A chair-brace composed of a staple having inwardly-bent shanks to forma closed loop, a cross-bar engaged thereby, and a pair of stay-rodsadapted to extend through the loop and to be secured to the chair-legs,substantially as specified.

2. The combination of a chair, withastaple secured to the chair-seat,and having bent shanks and a twisted body, a cross-bar eX- tendingthrough the staple, and a pair of bent stay-rods that engage the stapleand are secured to the chair-legs, substantially as speciied.

JAMES COOPER. Witnesses F. v. BRIEsEN, WILLIAM SCHULZ.

